Northern ‘Pacer’ withdrawals scheduled to begin in 2018

WITHDRAWALS of the first units in Northern’s ‘Pacer’ fleet of more than 200 vehicles will begin no later than September 15, 2018.

The units are being withdrawn as they do not comply to new disability regulations. They will be replaced by new trains.

Class 14x ‘Pacers’ are now on borrowed time. Unit No. 144018 arrives at Sheffield on January 25 with the 09.13 from Huddersfield. ROBIN STEWART-SMITH

Five Class 144 two-car units should have been stood down by September 2018, with two more units in October, four in November, and the final two units of that
sub-class by January 5, 2019.

The withdrawal of the Class 142s will partly run in parallel with the two-car Class 144s, as five Class 142 units are slated for withdrawal from November 10, 2018, with a further 19 units released by December 8.

Between January and October 2019, there will be a phased withdrawal, ranging between one and nine units each month, every month until October 12, 2019, when all should have been withdrawn.

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